I get to my car and check my phone for any tampering to the BMW, but nothing comes through. I do have two calls from Agent. I’ll need to call him once I get back to my cabin.
On my drive back to the cabin I watch the traffic around me. I have to say for a sleepy little town there are always cars, trucks and motorcycles out and about.
I get back to my cabin and check my laptop for security breaches but again, everything appears fine. There’s panic rising in my stomach, there’s a lump in my throat and I have a feeling that problems are going to come at me or us from all directions.
I make my way inside and grab a bottle of water from the fridge.
My laptop’s open as I dial Agent.
“15, we have a problem.”
Shit, what now…
“Ethan Martelli is an alias,” Agent starts.
“What the fuck?” my head spins with that small bit of information. I’m dreading to hear the rest.
“Ethan Martelli was created ten years ago. His real name is Anthony Mancini, Jr., known as Tony.” Whoa! How the hell did that happen?
“As in current employer Mancini?” My voice is steady but questioning.
“The same.” Agent’s information is always absolutely trustworthy; he’s never given me intelligence that’s incorrect.
“Other information?” I say trying to rack my brain around what I was told.
“Hit 149’s parents were killed by a drunk driver, but I’ve found they were a target,” he goes on.
This is getting worse with every word that leaves his mouth.
“Current Employer ordered that hit too.”
“Any other information?” Is there more?
“No 15. But I’ll keep searching.” Our call is now disconnected.
What the hell’s going on? Why has Ethan infiltrated the St. Cloud police department, and why was a hit ordered and executed on Ben’s parents? What am I missing in this picture? Something’s staring me right in the face and it’s still not coming together for me. What am I not seeing?
I sit in front of the laptop, desperately thinking back over everything from the start of this bizarre journey. But then again, define bizarre.
Anthony Mancini is father to Tony Mancini, Jr., also known as Ethan Martelli.
Anthony Mancini ordered the hit on Ben’s parents around six years ago.
Six years ago, Ben Pearson was in narcotics and special investigations.
Ethan Martelli, AKA Tony Mancini, Jr., infiltrated the St. Cloud police department nine years ago, one year after he started living as Ethan Martelli.
Ethan’s brother died almost eleven years ago in a gun-related incident.
What am I missing? What can’t I work out?
Wait a minute. I jump on Google and search the local news for the interview I saw Ben give a few nights back while I was in the hotel. I find the interview and replay it:
“Approximately two hours ago the St. Cloud Police Department intercepted a truck suspected of carrying illegal firearms. Upon inspection, we discovered the truck actually contained a large amount of cocaine. The street value of these drugs is in the vicinity of five million dollars. St. Cloud PD has been working closely with other law enforcement agencies and even though we were expecting a shipment of guns, we’re happy to have prevented such a large quantity of drugs from hitting our streets. Thank you very much for your time.”
There it is.
Screaming and obvious.
Could The Mancini Family be involved in this drug shipment? It seems likely. But there’s one question I need to ask. And the only person I can ask is Ben. His answer can confirm what I’m thinking about Ethan Martelli and his family, or send me in another direction entirely.
I need to wait until morning to go to Lionsgate Road and ask Ben about what I need to know.
First stop though, the St. Cloud police station. I think it’s time to visit Ethan.
After a restless night’s sleep the sun rises and I start getting myself ready for my visits with Ethan and Ben.
I travel the route that Ethan was watching to get to the St. Cloud police station; I’m hoping he’s waiting for me before I get to the station.
No such luck. I park my BMW in the parking lot and walk inside to be greeted by Grace.
“Hello there, Anna. Ben’s not back to work yet. He’s still on vacation.” Her tone’s so sincere.
“Yeah I know, Grace, I’m meeting up with him later. Is Ethan here yet?”
“I’ll just check to see if he’s out on the road or in the back.”
She gets up and leaves, but she’s back fairly quickly.
“He’s not here, so I’ll radio for him if you like.”
“That’ll be great Grace, thank you.” I hover around as she picks up the radio and calls for Ethan. I hear the two way conversation on their police radio.
“Ethan, Anna’s here and she’s asking for you.”
“Tell her I’ll be there in ten minutes. I’m just checking on something.” I wonder if the something he’s checking on is the something he’s protecting.
“He won’t be long, could I offer you a drink?”
“Thanks, just a coffee please.”
Grace darts off to make my coffee while I sit and watch the traffic go by. Normal traffic: cars, trucks, bikes, a tractor, and a milk truck. A smile comes to my face. This is going to be fun and I can’t wait until Ethan makes his appearance.
Thirteen minutes later I’m still watching the traffic when I see the police cruiser pull into the driveway. Ethan gets out and with a look of anger and frustration he trudges into the station.
“Anna, I wasn’t expecting you today.” He’s pissed off with me. Good.
“No one ever expects me, Ethan,” I say his name with a raised eyebrow and smirk.
Ethan’s face falls and his eyes widen. “Why don’t we head into Ben’s office? We can talk there.” I see anger and tension radiating from his body. He walks in front of me but doesn’t look over his shoulder to see if I’m there; he knows I am. He closes the door once inside and sits in Ben’s chair.
“What do you want? You’re proving to be a pain in my fucking ass.” He spits the words out with complete contempt toward me. No denying I really do annoy him.
“I’m sorry, Tony, that’s the last place I want to be a pain.” Smile Anna, push him further.
Ethan’s eyes widen even further. His face goes white. His mouth falls open, and his hands ball into fists.
“Who’s Tony?” His voice is rough and it’s just given him away.
“Sorry did I say ‘Tony’? I meant Ethan.” I’m slouched back in my seat giving him nothing.
“Who the fuck are you?” Push him and break him.
“That’s my question to you, Ethan. Ten years ago you created an alias and nine years ago you infiltrated St. Cloud PD. Why? What’s Ben got to do with this?” My voice is eerily calm. If I was listening to me, I’d be terrified of the unknown.
Ethan sits back and smiles. “I’ll get your phone for you, Anna. I’m sure that’s the reason you’re here.” He gets up with so much force he knocks the seat over, he leaves the room for what seems like a minute. He comes back in and stands at the door and hands me my burner phone.
I take the phone and purposely, in front of him, throw it to the floor where it shatters. “Oops, seems I dropped my phone, Ethan. What a problem.” I pick up the pieces and toss them in the trash can, and I turn and smile at him. “Thank you, Ethan. Once again, you’ve given me more information then you could possibly know.” And I leave the station.
I head over to Ben’s keeping a careful watch for anyone following me, but so far I’m left alone. I get to Ben’s and walk up to his door. I’m just about to knock when he opens the door with a huge smile on his face. He looks so happy to see me and I’m quite pleased to see him.
Ben wraps me up in a huge hug and plants a kiss on me that’s searing right from the moment our lips touch. He walks us inside, not breaking the kiss.
&nb
sp; He tugs my thighs up, so I wrap my legs around him. Ben takes us into the kitchen and sits me on his island counter. His lips still haven’t left mine and once I’m sitting on the counter his hands are all over me, softly caressing my body. He’s tracing every square inch of my form and my hands are enjoying his hard, toned ridges, too. I stroke the muscles on his arms, his stomach, pull at his hair and lightly scratch down his back, just the way he likes it. “Baby girl, I missed you so much last night,” he says with a low groan.
A smile lifts my lips as he pulls away and walks over to the coffee machine. He brings me a coffee and sits on the stool between my legs. His hands are running up and down my thighs. “What do you want to do today?”
“Actually Ben, I need two things from you. First I need a map of the woods that surround St. Cloud, mostly between Minneapolis and St. Cloud.”
Ben’s eyeing me suspiciously. “What are you involved in, Anna?” The police officer in him is emerging to the forefront.
“I can’t tell you right now, but I need you to trust me.”
“I got a call from Ethan this morning.” He stops to see my reaction. All I do is wait for him to continue with a raised eyebrow. “Telling me he’s leery of you and how I should be careful.”
“If you need to listen to Ethan, then please do so. I haven’t asked you for anything. However, now I need a map and an answer to a question. If you can’t give me those things, then I’ll find what I need elsewhere. Eventually I know I’ll have to tell you the truth, and when the time comes I promise you I will. Regardless of the outcome. But right now, I need to know if you have a map of the woods between St. Cloud and Minneapolis.” Emotions gone and mask in place.
Ben runs his hands through his hair and looks torn between what he should do and what he wants to do. We’re facing one another in a staring match. He wants to know more, but I can’t give it to him. Yet.
After what seems like an hour he gets up and leaves the kitchen. He comes back two minutes later holding a folded up map. He opens the map and lays it flat on the island counter. I jump down and lean over it, searching. I think I’ve found what I’m looking for.
I pull my phone out and dial Agent. Ben sits back and observes with a bewildered look on his face.
“15,” Agent answers after only one ring.
“Satellite search between St. Cloud and Minneapolis woods. Building search and heat search. ETA?” I look over to Ben whose face has dropped in pure shock. My mask’s in place and I give nothing away. He’s only heard a one-sided conversation. But I’m sure he has more questions than he did before.
“ETA three hours,” Agent says and our call’s disconnected.
Silence surrounds us. It engulfs us even though Ben’s moving, pacing frantically around the kitchen. I observe his behavior and don’t say anything to him. Half an hour passes and finally Ben starts to speak.
“What the fuck was that, Anna? Who the fuck are you? What the fuck’s going on? Are you a spy? A government agent?” Ben’s pacing and his eyes are wild.
“Ben, I’m still Anna. I’m still the same person you fell in love with.”
“Who the fuck are you? I don’t know who the hell I fell in love with.” He’s becoming more agitated and I need to calm him down before something happens, like he tries to arrest me. Or worse, I kill him.
“Ben,” I shout at him and he snaps his head to me. “I’m still Anna. I’m still the person you fell in love with. I’m still the Anna who loves you. It’s okay, everything will be fine.”
His face is unsure and he’s now rooted to one spot, looking at me. He opens his mouth and gestures with his hands like he wants to say something. He stops himself numerous times before he finally says, “What’s the question you need to ask me?” His voice is low. He’s resigned to the fact I’m holding onto secrets and that I’ll tell him when the time comes.
“The drug haul you intercepted, what sort of truck was carrying the cocaine?”
“What sort of dumb fucking question is that, Anna? Who cares what sort of truck it was. I think it was a Volvo. I don’t fucking remember.” He’s becoming frustrated and agitated with me.
“Ben. Stop acting like a lunatic and listen to me. I don’t want to know the make; I want to know what the truck you stopped was supposed to be carrying. What was written on the outside of the truck?”
“Um, let me think.” He thinks for a second but my phone rings.
It’s Agent. I answer it quickly.
“15, the information you require was easy to obtain. There are two buildings in the woods. One, a run-down old mansion with no heat signatures. The other an old dairy ranch and heat signature is abundant.” The call’s disconnected.
The moment Agent tells me it’s a dairy farm is the moment Ben blurts out, “It was a milk truck.”
Ben’s looking at me as most of the pieces fall into place for me, just like one giant puzzle. He has no idea what’s just been revealed to me and I can’t give it away.
I need to speak to Ethan because if my theory’s correct–and it usually is – Ethan’s involved with this entire situation. And always has been involved in it. I’m sure that was his game plan all along.
I give Ben a kiss and say goodbye. He grabs my arm, stopping me from leaving, “Goddamn it, Anna. What the hell just happened? I’m sick of not knowing what the fuck’s going on in that head of yours.”
“Ben, please, give me twenty-four hours and I’ll explain everything. I love you.”
Ben reluctantly lets me leave with the proviso that everything is explained within the day.
I sit in my BMW and close my eyes for a moment. Breathe. Breathe Anna.
I think it’s time I know what Ethan gets up to when he’s not being a token police officer.
I need to lure Ethan out and lead him back to my cabin. I can work on him there. No one will miss him, and no one will hear his screams.
As I’m on my way to my cabin to get equipment to monitor Ethan, I see the familiar flash of red and blue lights in my rear-view mirror. But this time it’s not a police cruiser; this time the flashing lights are on a civilian car. It looks like I won’t need to follow or lure Ethan; it appears he’s found me.
This could work, but now he’ll start out in control and I’ll have to turn that around pronto.
I pull over and see Ethan turn off the flashing lights and take them from his dashboard. I also notice he’s pulled me over on a relatively quiet stretch of road. I’m watching every move he makes through my mirror.
My Glocks aren’t within reaching distance, but I need to collect all the information I can. I think I’ll leave them where they are for now and just go with the flow of the situation. As I watch him leave his vehicle he comes around to the passenger side. When he reaches the passenger side and taps on the window with his gun, I notice the gun he’s holding isn’t police issue. Shit.
This may be trickier than I initially thought.
“Ethan, how nice to see you.” He slides into the passenger seat. I’m letting this play out because even though he may have the upper hand at the moment, he still doesn’t know anything about me.
“To your cabin, 15,” he spits out my professional name. Shit, he knows who I am.
I turn to him and smile, my mask firmly in place. “So finally, you know who I am. Are all your questions answered?” I take off in the direction of my cabin because it’s quiet and I can get to work there.
“The famous 15. Here we are. A woman so elusive most people think you’re an urban myth, captured by Tony Mancini. I’ll go down in the record books as taking out the ‘top assassin’ in the world.’ He uses his fingers as quotation marks when he says top assassin.
“Should I be calling you Ethan or Tony?” My mask isn’t slipping. I show no emotions to this man sitting next to me. He makes no attempt to answer my question. He does though, pull the phone out of his pocket and hit a speed dial number.
“Dad, I have her. I’ll send coordinates once we reach her cabin.” Ethan goes
quiet and listens to further instructions. “I’ll pass that message on, Dad. See you soon.” Ethan turns to me and grins evilly. “You know, Anna, you and I are cut from the same cloth. We could’ve been great together. Why my father wanted you to take out Pearson, I have no idea. I was setting the scene for him to take the fall.” I listen on with interest because it seems Ethan’s going to tell me exactly what I want to know.
Obviously I was hired because Ethan was taking too long with his strike against Ben.
“What exactly did you have planned for your Police Chief?” We’re nearing my cabin.
“I didn’t want to kill Ben after what we did to his parents, but the fucking idiot wouldn’t take the damn bribe.” And here it goes…
“What bribe?” I don’t think I have to push for information. Ethan’s cocky enough to believe he’s going to kill me, so he’ll be very vocal about his plans for Ben. Well, even if he does manage to kill me, I still want to know what’s happening and how Ben plays into this whole scene.
“Dad said he’s looking forward to seeing you tomorrow when he flies in. He said he really wanted to be here today but he had some, um,” he stutters and stalls. “Business to take care of before he can be here in St. Cloud.” Ethan’s face has transformed into a demonic scowl.
“We’re here, Ethan, we need to go the rest of the way by foot. It’s not far.”
“Get out and lead the way. I have a gun pointed at you, and you won’t live if you try anything.” He’s all cocky as he warns me.
“Ethan you’re holding a Beretta Elite. Do you think I can outrun a bullet?” No wonder his father hired me.
We’re in the cabin within a few minutes and I don’t bother checking for security breaches, because Ethan’s already here. No greater breach than the enemy standing before me.
“Sit.” He points to the chair with his gun. I do as he asks and sit. “Have you got rope?”
“No.” I’m not afraid of Ethan or his gun. I have various weapons around the house and all I need is my opportunity, but first I need to tease out all information Ethan Martelli’s willing to give me.
The HiT Series Page 12